All four seniors from the No. 1 University of Oklahoma softball team
were selected Monday night in the 2013 National Pro Fastpitch College
Draft, held at the Ford Theatre inside the Country Music Hall of Fame
and Museum.

The selections of Keilani Ricketts, Jessica Shults,
Michelle Gascoigne and Brianna Turang were a school record, topping the
three Sooners that were chosen in 2008. No school had as many draftees
as OU on Monday night as Tennessee and Missouri were the only programs
to have more than one player chosen.

All four players were chosen
within the first nine selections, highlighted by pitcher Ricketts, who
was drafted by the USSSA Florida Pride with the fourth overall pick.
Ricketts' selection is the second highest for a Sooner, bested only by
DJ Mathis being chosen second overall in 2009 by the Akron Racers.
One
selection after Ricketts, with the first pick of round two, the USSSA
Pride selected her battery mate, Shults, with the fifth overall
selection.

"That's what we talked about, we watched the World
Series last year and that was our dream to get both of them," USSSA
Pride General Manager Don DeDonatis said on the web stream of the draft.
"They're the two girls we wanted to land. They're awesome on the field
and just as good for us off the field."

"It's worked well for us
with Cat Osterman and Megan Willis over the last three years, so maybe
we'll start another trend with the new crew."

Gascoigne was the third Oklahoma player selected overall when the
Chicago Bandits chose her with the seventh overall pick and third of the
second round.

Turang became the first outfielder selected when
she was tabbed by the Akron Racers with the first pick of round three,
ninth overall.

Oklahoma has now had 18 players drafted to the NPF league since its inaugural draft prior to the 2004 season.

The
NPF College Draft featured five rounds of four selections for a total
of 20 overall draftees in the 2013 rookie class. Drafting an athlete
gives an NPF affiliate team rights to that athlete for two full seasons.

Due
to NCAA regulations, an active college senior-athlete may not sign with
her respective franchise until their 2013 college season is over.

National
Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. The league, created
to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a
professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under
the names of Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women's Pro Softball
League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League
Baseball in the category of women's fastpitch softball since 2002.